By Shereefdeen Ahmad
In 2017, Abdulwaheed Sofiullahi secured admission to study English Education at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto. As a young undergraduate, he had the vision to become a famous poet, not only on campus but also in Nigeria.
Enveloped in this vision and thought, Sofiullahi started composing poems. However, the popular cliché that poets always end up becoming poor in Nigeria discouraged him from maximizing the vision.
Now a recent graduate, Sofiullahi then decided to join the News Digest Press_one of the campus press outlets in Danfodiyo Varsity _to become a campus journalist.
In 2019, he began the journey of his campus journalism with learning the art of news reporting. That year, after he stood committed to writing news on the campus, he bagged the award of the Digest Reporter of the Year.
The award fueled Sofiullahi’s passion for campus journalism, and eventually, he proceeded to study the art and craft of feature story_another branch of journalistic writing.
“Ever since then,”he said, “I have started widening my journalistic skills and in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, I began writing for The Nation Newspaper under the campus beat platform.”
In 2021, Sofiullahi finally picked up full interest in journalism when he started writing for several national dailies in Nigeria including Daily Trust, HumAngle media, Ripples Nigeria and among others.
“I got my first employment in 2021 as a reporter for the News Direct. My editor didn’t even know that I was a student. I later resigned after a couple of months due to some reasons,”he said.
ASUU Strike: An Employment Period
On Monday, February 14, 2022, the Academic Staff Union of Universities, the umbrella body of the teaching staff of Nigerian public universities, announced a ‘warning’ strike in yet another face-off with the Federal Government to press home their demands.
The hapless and helpless students were left with no option than to stay at home. The strike pushed the students to yet again start pondering on their educational future, having also spent nine months at homes in 2020.
While many students prayed fervently for the battle between the Labour Union and the Federal government to be put to bed, students like Sofiullah even hoped for the strike to linger for over eight months.
“After I resigned from News Direct, I secured another employment with Pulse during the ASUU strike.”
Sofiullahi said that he got several opportunities to work with different media platforms during the strike.
“In fact, I was not that happy when the strike was called off because it served as an employment period for me, though I’m now a freelance journalist.”
According to Statista, in 2022, the unemployment rate in Nigeria is estimated to reach 33 percent. This figure was projected to be 32.5 percent in 2021. And in the fourth quarter of 2020, over 33 percent of the labor force was unemployed.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group(NESG), a private sector led think-tank has projected that the country’s unemployment rate will hit 37 per cent in 2023.
The group said that due to weak performance in the job-elastic sectors, and low labor absorption of sectors that will drive growth, the nation’s population growth estimated at 3.2 percent will lead to a decline in real per capita income; noting that the Nigeria’s poverty headcount will also rise to 45 per cent.
Just like Sofiullahi,Phillip Anjorin
is another undergraduate who is relatively earning from campus journalism skills he has acquired.
The 400-level Mass Communication student at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), Ondo State, stated that campus journalism has offered opportunities, enough to make him live more than an ordinary undergraduate.
“At first,” he said, “it was a platform for me to influence activity within the school premises, but along the line, it gave me the chance to use what I have done to bid for opportunities beyond the school premises.”
“I was able to gain experience, connection, I gained fellowship opportunities, grants, and employment opportunities.”
Phillip said he is currently working as an intern at Dubawa, a West African independent verification and fact-checking project, initiated by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) and supported by the most influential newsrooms.
Abdulwasiu Olookoba, a 500-level law student at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto is also another student journalist who is gainfully employed the campus journalism skills.
He stated that during the strike, he secured employment with Sahara Reporters_ one of the most famous media platforms in Nigeria.
“Alhamdulinlah, he said.” I have been able to sort my bills for myself with the campus journalism skills I acquired.”
Juggling Campus Journalism with Academic Activities: The Challenges
The journey is not all rosy. The student journalists in Nigeria are often faced with a huge hurdle, particularly in juggling the extracurricular activity(campus journalism) with academic activities.
Ajibade Abdullah Adewale, a 400-level student of Linguistics at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife said it’s very demanding to create a balance between journalism and his academic activities.
“Sometimes one will not be able to attend to some stories before it becomes stale as a result of rollover classes.”
Adewale, who currently works as an editor with Observersmag said the examination periods proved even to be the most unfavorable atmosphere in combining the two activities.
“Another challenge is that there are opportunities that I have missed because of academics. Some employers do not want them to be combined even as part time,” he added.
“I Don’t Think Like a Student Anymore”_Peace Oladipo
The thought of journalism has engulfed Peace Oladipo to the point that the 400-level Mass Communication at Federal University of Oye Ekiti(FUOYE) hardly thinks about her studentship.
All she ponders over is how to meet up with the deadlines for her stories and assignments. And this has placed the life of her academic activities in the red line.
“I don’t think like a student anymore,”she said. “It has been a big tussle, particularly as regards to time management.”
“Recently, I wrote a story and I was engaged with the editor the night before my examination. I realized that I’m getting more focused on journalism than my academic activities and I don’t think like a student anymore,” added.
Also, Oladipo said she has missed several opportunities because she is still a student.
The Importance of Earning Skills on Campus
Expressing what extracurricular activities could do, Professor Jimoh Amzat, a lecturer at the Department of Sociology, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, said engaging in such activities complements what the students are being taught in the class.
For instance, communication and confidence-building which can be built in book or debate clubs, he said, could help students develop skills_just like the campus journalism skills_that are not taught in classrooms but essential in the labour market.
“Combining those activities and academic work produces well-rounded students and graduates. It helps to meet people beyond their department, thereby enhancing friendship and fellowship that could also be beneficial,” he said.